Ryan McDermond

‘Hedda’ is a little bit like if Nina Hoss got to play Lydia Tar herself, and for that reason among many, it is incredibly entertaining.

Happyend has perhaps the most confident ending I've seen in a while.

Telegraphs what the final shot is going to be a full 5 minutes a head of time as if to say "We know that you know this is going to be good", and then the final shot gets here and it's 'even better'. Amazing.

Sentimental Value, Death Stranding 2, and Predator: Badlands all go irreversibly downhill at the exact same moment. As a huge fan of The Great, I’m going to have to chalk this up as a coincidence, but jeez.

Watched The Ugly Stepsister, which feels like the final word on those "Name a character who has suffered more than..." prompts. It's this lady.

I must've watched that one shot that flips the ballroom upside-down, like, 20 times. Top 3 shots of the year.

On that last point, I love that the scene starts and I'm like "This is the dumbest thing I've ever seen" (derogatory) but when it ends I'm like "That was the dumbest thing I've ever seen!" (enraptured).

Finally got to see The Secret Agent, which made me visibly smile every 30 seconds usually because:
1. How unbelievably beautiful the shot is
2. How fun a lot of the editing is
3. How wildly perfect the casting is for every minor character
4. That cat
5. The ******* *** rampage

All I'll say is, while I like DiCaprio a lot, I find myself for the 4th time in a row wishing that his movie was about anyone other than him.

I was blindsided by how little screen-time Taylor, Infiniti, and (especially) Hall have, and I don't know why the movie finds DiCaprio more interesting.

Before the Emmys, my personal Best of TV 2024-25 ballot:

Series: The Pitt
Director: The Last of Us - Neil Druckmann
Lead Actor: Kevin Kline / Kim Min-ha
Supporting Actor: Harrison Ford / Ruth Negga
Screenplay: The Pitt / Pachinko
Guest Actor: Gong Yoo / Julianne Nicholson

1. Shrinking - Harrison Ford may be the funniest person who's ever lived; probably always has been. So many priceless line deliveries that I needed to rewind to listen to 5 more times (“It’s a cloud… and I think you know that…”). Was greatly moved by Brett Goldstein's subplot.

2. Only Murders in the Building - The season 3 finale’s murder was genuinely jaw-dropping to me. That this season was able to produce a bone-chilling image from that right out the gate is kind of crazy for 'this' show. I've made a complete 180 on Gomez's performance, she's great.

3. The Bear - Trades in the heightened chaos and relentless positivity talk of previous seasons to become uncomfortable in a way I found more relatable and honest. I adored 'Napkins'. It's so rewarding and easy to invest in that it makes me wish the show just started there.

4. Nobody Wants This - First half is fiercely committed to ending every episode with The Most Adorable Thing You've Ever Seen. Second half is my favorite genre: Succession Actor Steals Every Scene. In both ways, it scratches the exact itch that I thought 'Materialists' would.

5. Hacks - There's some good insults on this show. Not even funny insults, just stuff that occasionally made me go "Wow". Julianne Nicholson is, without a doubt, the single funniest person you could cast to play 'Dance Mom'. A role so against type it becomes a glorious spectacle.

6. What We Do in the Shadows - I'm gonna miss the way Kayvan Novak says words. So many jokes that will make you say "that's so stupid" as you're already laughing ("A.D.? A Director!"). Occasionally goes too far with the stupid, but that's the price of doing business.

7. Abbott Elementary - Oh my god I hate The Studio so much. Anyways, this was nice. I still wish they would do shorter seasons again in the hopes that the quality jokes would be as densely packed as in season 1, but that logic is probably delusion on my part. Barbara innocent.

8. The Studio - Oh my god I hate this show so much. Stop name-dropping famous people. Stop it. Tell a joke. That they expect me to laugh or be entertained just because they said David Fincher’s name out loud feels like an insult to my intelligence. And worse, everyone's annoying.

Lastly, I caught up with the Comedy Series nominees and had the inverse reaction in that I greatly enjoyed all of these except for one. Some thoughts:

1. Dying for Sex - Look, I was expecting 'Last Holiday'. But starting from a place of such blunt self-loathing feels new, and makes the gradual reclamation of confidence and power all the more gratifying. Sad, but finds humor in it (the cane). Smart use of narration/lack thereof.

2. The Penguin - So, I realize that you can't have a show called "The Penguin's Mom", but I kinda wish this show was just about The Penguin's mom. That relationship and her performance are so unexpected and interesting that it is 'such' a bummer when the crime plot interrupts it.

3. Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story - Constantly alternates between '100% victim' and '100% monster' in a way that gave me whiplash, but I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't actively engaged because of this. My opinion of these two changed by the end of every episode.

4. Adolescence - I can't stress enough how much the end of episode 1 made me stop caring about this kid. The parents are where the drama and sympathy are, but the show is almost over by the time we get to them. The one-shot gimmick wore thin for me pretty much immediately.

5. Black Mirror - The goal of the first two episodes appears to be to frustrate the viewer for as long as possible. The next two episodes are just bad. And then, like water in the desert, there's Paul Giamatti, doing incredible work in material worthy of him. Then back to 'eh?'.

Caught up with all of the Limited Series nominees next and found that I had significantly less success with those, with one exception. Some thoughts:

1. The Pitt - There's a scene in the finale (a callback of sorts) that I find genius, devastating, and believably ends a character arc that would've been unthinkable a few hours ago. Yet, there is exceptional comedy, lovable characters, and a sweet and hopeful ending. Perfect TV.

2. The Diplomat - Rufus Sewell might have given my favorite comedic performance of the year. He’s like a hyper-competent, tortured Homer Simpson. Allison Janney is introduced as the most interesting person ever and makes good on this promise over and over. Crazy charismatic cast.

3. Slow Horses - Season 3 was a masterpiece of episodic action storytelling, and that they followed it up with another faultless, breezy season while largely dropping the 'action' part is worthy of praise. Easily the best looking show of these 8. Jonathan Pryce is heartbreaking.

4. The Last of Us - The Last of Us Part II might be my favorite... anything... ever? So to watch them screw up everything special about this story was, uh, annoying. But unfortunately... 'The Price' is my favorite TV episode of the year. Joe Pantoliano's scenes are tremendous.

5. Severance - Without getting into spoilers, that camcorder scene is impressive for 'so' many reasons. Everything Mr. Milchick does delights me to no end. The sad thing, though, is that there were 7 episodes that I just didn't enjoy watching. The only prescription is more Cobel.

6. Paradise - At times, it feels like this show only exists to make 'Silo' look better. I wish the production design had more of an identity. The score is very exciting and also completely overused. Stuuupid ending. It's fun to see Julianne Nicholson in this type of role, though.

7. The White Lotus - This season I realized that I really only watch this show for each season's finale and nothing else. Without the murder 'guessing game' I wouldn't be able to stomach any of these characters. They need to move heaven and earth to get Coolidge back.